Railroad-tie plate.



E.,G. TEICHART.

RAILROAD TIE PLATE.

APPLICATION FILED-FEB. I5. 1912.

Patented Aug. 14:, 1917.

m MIIIIII luveuroni A NIT D S AT NT- OFFIcE.

ERNST e. TEIGHART, or, DUQUESNE, rENNsrLvANr ASSIGIVNORIOF ONE-HALF To HENRY I-IOWDEN, orHoMEsTEAp,rnnnsrnvanm. j

- RAILROAD-TIE rLA'rE,

To all whom it may concern 1 Be it known that I, ERNST G; TEIoHAR'r, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Duquesne, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a Railroad-Tie Plate, of which the following is a full and complete specification.

The primary object of my lIIVB IltIOILIlS to provide'a tie-plate for railroad rails which. w1ll insure a'strong and secure (30111160131011;

between the rail and tie, affording a firm supporting-base upon which the rail rests, and while preventingthe rail from giving or yielding laterally. will permit the same to creep longitudinally under the influence of atmospheric changes without affecting the stabilityof its connection with the" tie. 1

These principal objects and advantages are attained in the present instance in a simple and economicalmanner through the instrument'ality of twocooperating parts of special construction; to wit, a rolled plateor tie-plate receiving the base portion. of

a the rail and embracing the outer edge ofone ofthe lateral flanges thereof, and a tapered locking member or creeper wedge fitting within the tie-plate and embracing the other edge of-the base-flange of the rail to form a firm and secure connection when the parts are attached to the tie by means of the ordinary spikesyall as hereinafter fully described and specifically setforth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof I I I Figure 1 is a perspective View illustrating the application of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan'view thereof, partlyin section.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view, on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

I Fig. 4 is a similar sectional view, on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 5 and 6 are top and bottom plan views, respectively, of the locking member used in connection with the tie-plate.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

In carrying out my invention the tieplate, which is preferably made of steel, is

' rolled or otherwise specially shaped to provide an intermediate comparatively thin portion 7 upon which the railroad rail, A, is directly seated, and at one side said plate is thickened to form a vertical longitudinal Specification of Letters Patent. J Patented Aug." 14 1917'. Application filed February 15, 1917. Serial No. 148,853.

shoulder l 8 rising from the rail-seat and.

having .an inwardly-projecting flange 9 at its upper end engaging and overlapping the outer edge of one of the base flanges a of the rail. The-other sideiof the-tie-plate is also thickened to present a longitudinal shoulder 10 and inwardly-projecting flange 11, the shoulder in thisinstance rising above the 1 forming a wedge-shapedo'pening or space between the flange and shoulder, adapted to receive. the lockingmember vor. creeper-v w'edge 12, and in order to {increase the .ef: fectiveness of this locking. member the underside of the cooperating flange 11; of the tie-plate. is slightly undercut.-

The locking-member or-creeper-wedge12 is L-shape-incross-section, with its depending member or body portion 13 taperedlon gitudinally to correspondwith'the shape of p the wedge-shape opening. or space'between the rail-flange and shoulder: 10', in which it is adapted to fit Ltosecurelybindthe rail in the tie-plate, the upperinwardly-projecting member 14 of said creeper-wedge'overlying the base-flange of the rail to hold vthe latter downon its seat. Itzwill be noted that the outer portion of the upper face of the creeper-wedge'is curved to correspond with the underside ofthe retaining-flange 11 of the tie-plate, and the cross-sectional shape of 7 said creeper-wedge is such that when it is in place the stress of the rail upon the tie-plate will be distributed to effect a strong connection with the expenditure of a minimum amount of material, thus permitting the tieplate or rail supporting structure to be made comparatively thin.

For the purpose of holding the creeperwedge in place a spike-hole 15 passes down through the thickened portion of. the tieplate on a line with the shoulder 10, extending into the flange 11 and rail-seat 7 so that the spike may engage in a recess 16 at the edge of said creeper-wedge. In the present instance the recess 16 is very much wider than the spike so as to permit longitudinal movement'of the wedge for proper adjustment andto creep with the rail. lVhen the spike, 17, is driven into place it serves to not only retain the creeper-wedge in locked engagement with the rail and tie-plate, but also secures the tie-plate to the tie. at this side of the rail, said tie-plate being further secured to the tie by a spike 18 which passes down through an opening in the other thickened portion on a line with the shoulder 8; this last-mentioned spike opening being disposed so that the spike will engage the outer edge of the base-flange of the rail, as shown in Fig. 4c. I

By reference to Figs.- 2, 3 and 4 it will be observed that the inner edge of the flange 11 is disposed slightly beyond the vertical plane 4 ofthe outer edge of the base-flange a of the rail, whereby the tie plate may be easily applied or slipped on to the base-flange laterally.

To increase the hold of the tie-plate on the tie, as B, oneend of said tie-plate is provided with a depending lip 20, which bears against one side of the tie, and the underside of the plate is provided with ribs 19, 19,- which become embedded in the tie when the spikes are driven in.

In applying the tie-plate it is slipped on i to the base flange of the rail at one side of a tie and the rail slightly lifted so that said tie-plate may be slid along the same onto the adjoining tie, after which the creeperwedge is slid into place from the wider end of the wedge-shaped opening between the rail and shoulder 10, and the spikes driven in to hold the parts securely locked and firmly attach the tie-plate to the tie. It will be readily seen that this operation may be accomplished quickly, and the device will effect a strong and durable connection of the rail to the tie.

This rail connection consists of only two parts, both of which may be rolled and therefore cheaply made, and by constructing said parts in the particular manner hereinbefore described a comparatively small amount of material only is required, Without sacrificing requisite strength.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. In combination, a tie-plate for railroad rails having'a seat for the rail, an engaging shoulder at one side of said seat embracing an edge of the base-flange of the rail, a vertical longitudinal shoulder at the opposite side of the tie-plate beyond the rail and extending at an angle with respect thereto and having an inwardly-projecting flange at its upper end, said tie-plate having spike-openings through the same vertically on a line with the opposite shoulders, and a creeperwedge fitting in the tie plate between the aforesaid shoulder and rail and having an elongated recess at its outer side in alinement with the spike opening through said shoulder.

2a In combination, a tie-plate for railroad rails having a seat for the rail, an engaging shoulder and flange at one side of said seat engaging an edge of the base flange of the rail, a vertical longitudinal shoulder at the a v opposite side of the tie-plate beyond the rail and extending at an angle with respect thereto to. provide a wedge-shape opening between the shoulder and rail, and an in wardly-projecting flange at the upper end of the shoulder, together with a wedgeshape key-plate fitting in the wedge-shaped openingv in the tieplate under the aforesaid flange and having a member overlying the base flange of the rail, spikes passing down through the tie plate to secure it to the tie, a recess in the key-plate in which oneof the spikes engages, a downwardly extending lip at one end of the tie-plate, and longitudinal ribs at the underside of said tie-plate near the outer ,edges thereof, substantially as herein shown and described.

ERNST G. TEICI-IART. Witnesses:

JOHN D. NoLEs,

ANDREW J. HUNTER.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for'five cents earth, by addressing the "Gommissioner 'of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

